Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1037828
Summer 2018 45 Consumers today look for convenience in all aspects of their lives, especially when it comes to finding a quick meal or a much-needed cup of coffee. They're no longer content to run across the street for a jolt of caffeine or a mid-morning snack. They want options located within the buildings where they work, study, or receive healthcare. In response, offices, college campuses, and hospitals are increasingly bringing dining and beverage options to new locations within their facilities. As the reach of foodservice expands, it can no longer be tethered to a central kitchen. It must be mobile, able to be set up, broken down, and relocated multiple times a day. Traditionally, stationary foodservice equipment is not designed with these new requirements in mind, creating an opportunity for Lakeside Manufacturing, a producer of mobile serving carts, kiosks, and action stations, to make an impact. "People want food wherever they are now, so we are in a position to support the cus- tom integration of different products to deliver a unique experience," says Joe Carlson, president of Lakeside. "You have a wide variety of logisti- cal and service problems in moving food items and supplies to support these growing number of remote locations." With foodservice becoming decentralized, equipment, ingredients, and supplies must be quickly and easily moved between setups depending on the time of day and the menu options. Lakeside offers a wide assortment of unique mobility equipment to make that possible, from action stations and condiment counters to multi daypart carts/kiosks, creating a deep prod- uct family of utility carts that spans 72 years. Operators want the flexibility to individualize equipment with a wide variety of options that are application-specific, Carlson explains. A multi daypart cart for an elementary school breakfast program may need chilled wells to hold bever- ages and an overhead basket for fresh fruit, while a similar cart at a college cafeteria may be outfit- ted with a warming drawer, refrigerator, or a plate dispenser to be used as a tasting cart for new entrees. Accommodating those evolving requirements has been a 10-year journey for Lakeside. "All those trends forced us to adapt to the dynamic new way foodservice is delivered," Carlson says. In the late-2000s, Lakeside realized it could no longer serve the market purely through a list of standard mobile single-purpose products so it JOE CARLSON Lakeside "When you're in the custom/modification business, there's no second chance." By Tim O'Connor, Associate Editor tim@feda.com